Distributedly synchronized edge playout system

ABSTRACT

The same sequence of media items is pre-distributed to storage devices at multiple locations. A local program component, including content not in the pre-distributed sequence of media items, is obtained at a first media mixer at a first location. A control signal associated with playout of the pre-distributed media items is obtained at a first processing device co-located with the first media mixer. The local program component is transmitted to a second media mixer located at a second location. Separately from the local program component, the control signal is transmitted from the first processing device to a second processing device, co-located with the second media mixer. The control signal is synchronized to the local program component at the second location to generate a synchronized media program control. The pre-distributed sequence of media items is mixed with the local program component as directed by the synchronized media program control.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS

NOT APPLICABLE

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

NOT APPLICABLE

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

NOT APPLICABLE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to playing out mixed media at multipleremote locations, and more particularly to synchronizing and mixing themedia to be played out at each of the multiple remote locations.

2. Description of Related Art

Source media content is often transmitted from a source location tomultiple different locations for broadcast or streaming. The content tobe broadcast or streamed can, in many cases, include advertisements orother external content inserted en-route to the broadcast or streaminglocation by a content distribution system, inserted at the broadcast orstreaming location, or even inserted at the consumer's local device.

In general, insertion of the external content uses markers included inthe source media content, or in a media schedule, to indicate where theexternal content is permitted to be inserted. Regardless of the exactmechanism used to indicate permissible insertion locations, the sourcemedia content is transmitted “as-is” from the source location to thebroadcast or streaming locations.

For example, it is common for a radio personality to be in control of aradio broadcast. It is also common for the radio personality to insert avoice-over during playout of a song scheduled to be broadcast orstreamed. Due to various network constraints required by playoutsequence synchronization, media distribution and other coordinationchatter, current systems operate by mixing the voice-over into the songat the source location and transmit the altered song, including thevoice-over, to the remote broadcast or streaming locations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theDrawings, the Detailed Description of the Invention, and the claims.Various features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the invention madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of prior art, centrallysynchronized, system for distributing media items to remote locationsfor broadcast or streaming;

FIG. 2 is a generalized schematic block diagram illustrating adistributedly synchronized system for distributing media items to remotelocations for broadcast or streaming in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a broadcasting systemin accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a de-centralized mediaplayout system including multiple dispersed locations, in accordancewith various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of distributedlysynchronizing media content and control signals, in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a local programcomponent and associated control signals to be distributedlysynchronized by remote locations, in accordance with various embodimentsof the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of distributedlysynchronizing media for broadcast or streaming at a location remote froma source location, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of distributedlysynchronizing media in a system including an intermediate distributionsite, in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;and

FIG. 9 is a high-level block diagram of a processing system, part or allof which can be used to implement various server, machines, systems, anddevices in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In various embodiments discussed herein, pre-organized media sequencesare pre-distributed between one or many locations, and are mixed,interleaved, or otherwise modified to include a local program component.The local program component can, but need not, include live mediacontent, and can originate from any content creation space or broadcaststudio. Various embodiments move various functions away from thelocation providing the local program component to be performed closer tolocations that broadcast or stream the pre-organized media sequences. Bymoving these functions allows various methods, devices, and systemsdisclosed herein to overcome latency, bandwidth, control, hardwarerequirements, and system management issues that arise when mediadistribution systems employ widely distributed broadcasting, streaming,and content creation sites.

Towards that end, a site providing the local program component alsoprovides various control signals that allow a dispersed location tolocally synchronize functions performed at that dispersed location, withrespect to the pre-organized media sequence and the local programcomponent. Note that the synchronization performed at the dispersedlocation does not need to be an absolute-in-time synchronization, inwhich a command is executed at the same time “X” at both the dispersedlocation and at the site from which the control signal originates.Instead, the synchronization can be a relative synchronization in whichthe control signal is synchronized to the local program component ateach dispersed location.

As used herein, the term “distributedly synchronizing,” “distributedsynchronization,” and similar derivative terms refer to control signalsbeing transmitted from a first location to one or more remote locations,and then synchronizing the control signal to media items at the remotelocations. Some or all media items to be synchronized to the controlsignals can be pre-stored at the remote locations, and are nottransmitted with the control signals. Even if separately transmittedcontrol signals and some media content items are synchronized prior totransmission from the first location, various network latency, queuing,transmission speed, and other factors can cause the control signals andmedia content items to lose synchronization. These network effects areexacerbated when a broadcast or streaming device is connected to anorigination site via a wide-area network (WAN) rather than a local areanetwork (LAN). The separately transmitted control signals and mediacontent can be distributedly synchronized (or re-synchronized) at theremote destination, or an intermediate destination remote from thetransmission source.

For example, at a studio site, local talent can start talking twoseconds before pressing a button to start playout of a particular mediaitem in the distributed media sequence. The local talent will hear bothher voice and the media item being played out in response to the buttonpush. The local talent's voice will be sent to the distributed locationas a local program component. Separately, a control message, or signal,indicating the button push will be sent to the distributed site. Thedistributed site will receive both the local program component and thecontrol message indicating the button push, synchronize them, and beginplaying out the local program component. Two seconds after the localtalent's voice begins playing out at the distributed site, the “buttonpush” will cause the media item to begin playing, replicating at thedistributed location the same occurrences taking place at the studiosite. Thus, even though there may be a latency delay of 3 seconds (ormore) between the studio site and the remote site, playout at theremote, or distributed location will be synchronized relative to theplayout of media at the distributed location, even though the playout atthe distributed location does not occur at the same absolute time as theplayout at the studio site.

Various embodiments disclosed herein, sometimes referred to as aDual-Edge playout system, distribute pre-organized media sequencesbetween one and many dispersed locations, and provide the ability todistributedly interleaved live content, if applicable, that originatesfrom any content creation space or broadcast studio. Each dispersedlocation can include an edge playout device that is synchronized to amaster edge playout device in a master-slave relationship. The masteredge playout device can be in a recording studio during a livebroadcast, or at one of multiple transmission sites given a simpleautomated playout schedule. In at least one embodiment, any edge playoutdevice can be designated as the master edge playout device, which canhelp create various levels of redundancy when network connectivity orsynchronization processes are un-available from a Studio or Cloudcontroller.

In some embodiments, every edge playout device is pre-populated with asynchronized media library, local specific content, and other assetsthat can be re-organized in a matter of seconds from any mastercontroller. Once the playout sequence has been synchronized and orderedproperly, live controls can be initiated from a master edge device toeach edge device/endpoint subscribed to a show or program, to any of theslaves through a Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) stream, orotherwise.

The RTP signal input to at any slaved edge playout device can include adynamic jitter buffer, which checks latency between the master and theslave and automatically adjusts the amount of delay to ensure seamlessplayback from the transmission source. In at least one embodiment, thisprocess allows content created in the studio to be broadcast 1:1 atevery edge playout device, regardless of latency.

Controls such as altering the volume of a music bed during a live talksegment of a radio show can be replicated at each site, reducingpossible network bandwidth utilization during live broadcasts bypre-organizing content at the edge playout devices.

In some embodiments, if there is an emergency localized over multiplemarkets or a single market, this master and slave relationship can beused to broadcast on certain stations from a completely differentmarket/hub via satellite, 4G, or public Internet Service Provider (ISP),if still available. Additionally, shows currently distributed bysatellite can have reduced points of failure, and an ability to scale upor down with greater efficiency.

Some, but not all, embodiments disclosed herein may be more easilyunderstood by comparing the prior art, centrally synchronized system 100of FIG. 1, with the distributedly synchronized system 200 illustrated inFIG. 2.

Referring first to prior art FIG. 1, centrally synchronized system 100includes a studio 130 and a technical operations center 160 coupled viaa high speed, high bandwidth network, such as local area network (LAN)150, which allows transmission of relatively large amounts of data withminimal latency and delays. Typically, technical operations center 160and studio 130 are co-located. Studio 130 includes control machine 120,and studio mixer 110. Technical operations center 160 includes audioserver (ASERV) 180 and station mixer 170.

ASERV 180 receives surface control signals 134, such as mixing, fade,and volume levels input by an operator of studio mixer 110; and othercontrol signals 116, such as play, pause, and stop commands, fromcontrol machine 120. Based on the surface control signals 134 and theother control signals 116, ASERV 180 provides content 132, e.g. songs,spots, liners, and identifiers, to studio mixer 110. ASERV 180 issynchronized to control machine 120 via playout control synchronizationsignals 114, to ensure that content 132 is properly mixed and/or playedout by studio mixer.

Studio mixer 110 receives button bar/emergency playout control signals112 from control machine 120 and content 132 from ASERV 180, performsany necessary mixing of content, and generates studio program 158.Studio mixer 110 transmits studio program 158 to station mixer 170,which transmits final program 195 to one or more transmission sites atdispersed locations. As can be observed with respect to centrallysynchronized system 100, control signals and content are synchronized,and any mixing of or modifications to the content are made prior totransmission to the remote broadcast sites. Thus, there is no need tosynchronize the control signals to the content at distributed sites,because the content is broadcast to each broadcast or streaming site inthe same form it will be broadcast or streamed. However, a consequenceof this centralized synchronization is that all the content to bebroadcast, e.g. all the scheduled songs, all the live voice/videooverlays, all mixing of media items, etc., are sent from technicaloperations center 160 to each transmission site. Sending all the contentto be broadcast in its final form can consume large amounts of databandwidth, during transmission to the broadcast site.

It will be appreciated that the phrase “all content in its final form”does not preclude later, automated insertion of media into “empty”schedule slots, insertion of advertisements into spots allocated foradvertisement insertion into a broadcast schedule, or automatedreplacement of prerecorded content.

Referring next to FIG. 2, distributedly synchronized system 200 includesstudio 230 and transmission site 260 communicatively coupled via widearea network (WAN) 250. Studio 230 includes studio edge player 220, andstudio mixer 210. Transmission site 260 includes TX edge player 280 andstation mixer 270, which transmits final program 295 for broadcast,streaming, or another form of transmission to consumers. Note that, ascompared to the centrally synchronized system discussed with respect toprior art FIG. 1, distributedly synchronized system 200 moves thesynchronization and mixing processes to distributed transmission sites,such as transmission site 260. Moving the synchronization and mixingprocesses to the distributed transmission sites allows distributedlysynchronized system 200 to employ pre-distributed content stored attransmission site 260, thereby reducing the amount of information thatneeds to be included in transmissions to transmission site 260. That is,unlike centrally synchronized system 100 illustrated in prior art FIG.1, distributedly synchronized system 200 does not need to transmit “allcontent in its final form” from the studio to the transmission sites.

In at least one embodiment, the distributed synchronization performed attransmission site 260 synchronizes studio program 258, to the controlsignals 216 and content 232. This distributed synchronization is notperformed by prior art system 100 (FIG. 1), because in prior art system100 content 132 is included in studio program 158, while indistributedly synchronization system 200, content 232 is pre-distributedto transmission site 260 and is not included in studio program 258. Alsonote that in prior art system 100, play, stop, and pause, level, andsimilar controls are not even distributed to remote transmission sites.

In distributedly synchronized system 200, studio edge player 220transmits content 232 to studio mixer 210, and control signals 216, suchas playout, pause, and stop control signals, to transmitter edge player280. Studio mixer 210 transmits surface control signals 234 to studioedge player 220. Surface control signals 234 include instructionsgenerated by a studio mixing console, such as levels, tally, on/offstatus, etc. In at least some embodiments, control signals 216 includesurface control signals 234.

Playout synchronization 214 synchronizes the playout of pre-scheduledmedia items, which are pre-stored at transmission site 260, according toa broadcast schedule. In at least one embodiment, playoutsynchronization 214 can be performed using various clock synchronizationtechniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. By synchronizingthe clocks used by computing devices at the various distributedlocations, scheduled playout of media items at transmission site 260 canbe performed at scheduled times.

Playout synchronization 214 is, in various implementations, separatefrom the distributed synchronization performed at transmission site 260.In at least one embodiment, scheduled transmission times of media itemsaccording to a broadcast schedule can be adjusted to accommodatedistributed synchronization requirements needed to synchronize therelative timing relationship between a local program component includedstudio program 258 and a control signal 216. For example, the scheduledplayout of a scheduled media item at transmission site 260 can bedelayed to ensure that the relative timing between voice-over contentincluded in studio program 258 is synchronized with a “start” command ora “volume level” command associated with a particular media item to bebroadcast or streamed.

Referring next to FIG. 3 system 300, in which distributedsynchronization devices and techniques can be incorporated, will bediscussed. System 300 includes media automation system 310, for examplea NexGen® automation system, which can control and automate variousmedia broadcast functions; and traffic and billing system 320, forexample a Viero® traffic system, which can provide control for varioustraffic and billing functions such as entering and editing orders, andscheduling spots. System 300 also includes streaming broadcast system360, through which a streaming broadcast of media content can beprovided to one or more consumer media system 391 via one or morenetworks, such as Internet 361 and/or mobile carrier network 381 viacell tower 383. In addition to streaming broadcast system 360, system300 can include over-the-air broadcast system 350, through which mediacontent is broadcast to consumer media system 391 via broadcast tower351. In at least some embodiments, over-the-air broadcast system 350transmits to broadcast tower 351, complete broadcast content 353, whichincludes primary content, advertisements, and embedded information. thecomplete broadcast content 353 is not necessarily coextensive with finalprogram content discussed subsequently herein.

Various media sources can also be included in system 300, for exampleindividual source media 342, database 341, programming from anothermarket and received via network 340, and programming broadcast viasatellite 331, which can be received via satellite receiver 330. In someembodiments, although not explicitly illustrated, satellite 331 canbroadcast content directly to consumer media system 391. Although notspecifically illustrated, in various embodiments a streaming station canbe substituted for a satellite broadcast station by consumer mediasystem 391, using the same or similar techniques used for substitutingthe streaming station for a terrestrial over-the-air broadcast. Notethat in some embodiments, over-the-air broadcasting can include bothsatellite-based over-the-air broadcasting and terrestrial over-the-airbroadcasting.

System 300 may also include advertisement system 322, sometimes referredto as an external advertisement system, or a network advertisementsystem, which can be used for provisioning general advertisement contentfor streaming and broadcast airplay via the traffic and billing system320. The traffic and billing system 320 and the advertisement system 322may communicate with each other, and/or with over-the-air audio server312 and/or streaming audio server 311 to coordinate local and generaladvertisement content.

In general, traffic and billing system 320 can be used to providecontrol and monitoring of the sale and scheduling of spot blockscontaining one or more spots, and to determine which spot blocks are tobe played on which streaming and broadcast stations at particular times.This information can be provided in the form of a log file in someembodiments. Media automation system 310 can use server 313 to gatherprogramming and media information from various sources, and combine thatinformation with spot block information 319 to generate a log fileindicating a substantially complete representation of which media andspots are to be broadcast. The log file and related information can beprovided to both over-the-air audio server 312 and streaming audioserver 311 for broadcast over their respective systems.

Media automation system 310, as illustrated, can include productionmachine 316, which receives media content from network 340, database341, individual source media 342; control room machine 315; and utilitymachine 314, each of which is connected to server 313. Media automationsystem 310 can also include over-the-air audio server 312, whichprovides media content to over-the-air broadcast system 350; andstreaming audio server 311, which provides audio content to streamingbroadcast system 360. Server 313 can provide audio, images, video, ormixed media content to one or both of over-the-air audio server 312 andstreaming audio server 311. Note that even though audio servers areillustrated and discussed, the techniques and principles describedherein can also be applied to images, video and mixed media content.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of the illustrated servers canbe realized as a virtual server implemented on the same hardware asanother of the illustrated servers. In each case, however,implementation of a server requires the use of hardware, and generalreference to a “server,” unless otherwise explicitly stated or requiredby the context, includes hardware components used to implement theserver functionality. Furthermore, various distributed processingtechniques can be used to spread functionality of one or more of theillustrated servers across multiple different machines.

In various embodiments, programming provided by streaming audio server311 to streaming broadcast system 360 can be the same programmingprovided by over-the-air audio server 312 to over-the-air broadcastsystem 350. In many instances, however, particular spots included in thevarious spot blocks provided to over-the-air broadcast system 350 andstreaming broadcast system 360 can vary, even though the length andtiming of the spot blocks themselves are generally consistent with eachother.

A streaming station that provides substantially the same primaryprogramming as an over-the-air station, even if some or all of theadvertisements or ancillary content may be different, can be said to bea “corresponding streaming station” with respect to the over-the-airstation. In general, the more closely the primary content of a streamingstation matches the primary content of an over-the-air station, the moreclosely those stations are said to correspond. If a particular mediastation duplicates its primary content on a streaming station, even ifadvertisements and ancillary content are not exactly duplicated, or thetiming of the primary content is offset or slightly altered, thatstreaming station can be said to be an “exactly corresponding streamingstation.” A streaming station that includes over 50% of the same primarycontent broadcast by an over-the-air station can be said to be a“loosely corresponding streaming station” to the over-the-air station. Astreaming station that does not necessarily broadcast identical mediaitems at the same time or in the same order as an over-the-air station,but that streams primary content of the same genre and style included ina broadcast of the over-the-air station, can be said to be a“tangentially corresponding streaming station” to the over-the-airstation. Unless otherwise specified, reference herein to a“corresponding streaming station” can include any or all of exactlycorresponding, loosely corresponding, or tangentially correspondingstreaming stations.

In some embodiments, system 310 can be, for example, a radio automationsystem used to control media content broadcast via multiple differentradio stations in a single market, with some or all system elements andsubsystems co-located in a single physical facility. In otherembodiments, media automation system 310 can be a radio automationsystem used to provide control of radio stations in different markets,in different locations, or via different distribution channels. In anillustrated embodiment, media automation system 310 is used to controlmedia broadcast over the air via on-air broadcast system 350 andbroadcast tower 351, and streaming media provided to the Internet 361via streaming broadcast system 360. Broadcast stations and mediadelivery devices in addition to those illustrated in FIG. 3 can also becontrolled by media automation system 310. It should be appreciated thatmedia automation system 310 can also be used with television and othertypes of media that may broadcast programming via multiple differentstations or outlets.

Media automation system 310 can obtain media to be broadcast fromvarious sources. For example, production machine 316 can obtaininformation from broadcasts in other markets via network 340. Productionmachine 316 can also obtain media from database 341, which may be adatabase local to production machine 316, or local to another server ormachine that is part of media automation system 310. In otherembodiments database 341 can be maintained by a third-party mediaprovider, which can be remote from media automation system 310.Production machine 316 can also obtain media to be broadcast fromindividual media sources, such individual source media 342, which mayinclude any of various non-volatile media storage elements, includingbut not limited to optical disks, e.g. compact discs (CDs), digitalvideo disks (DVDs), various types of magnetic and electromagneticstorage media, or the like.

Production machine 316 can provide some or all of the media to bebroadcast to server 313. In addition to the media provided to server 313from production machine 316, satellite receiver 330 can also providesatellite content to be inserted into a broadcast via over-the-air audioserver 312 and streaming audio server 311. Server 313 can also receivemedia, a local program component, and playout control signals related tocontent to be broadcast, from control room machine 315. Control roommachine 315 may include a studio in which a live broadcast is beinggenerated, such as a talk show or other similar live program, butcontrol room machine 315 can also provide media to server 313 other thanlive media.

Additionally, control room machine 315 can provide server 313 withvarious control functions, and in some cases an operator can manuallyadd or remove spots, programming, and other content that server 313 haspreviously slotted for broadcast. Thus, for example, an operator incontrol room machine 315 may determine that a previously scheduled spotin a particular spot block is not to be broadcast for any of variousreasons. Upon making that determination, control room machine 315 can beused to send a signal to server 313. In response to the signal, server313 can remove the spot from its previously scheduled spot block. Insome embodiments, the removed, or “bumped” spot is not delivered toover-the-air audio server 312 for over-the-air broadcast, nor is itdelivered to streaming audio server 311 for streaming broadcast. Invarious embodiments control room machine 315 can be used to generate andtransmit various control signals, such as volume levels; timing signals;and playout controls such as pause, start, and stop.

Traffic and billing system 320 is, in some embodiments, connected toserver 313 via a utility machine 314. In other embodiments, traffic andbilling system may be connected to server 313 through other machines,for example control room machine 315, production machine 316, ordirectly connected to server 313. In other embodiments, traffic andbilling system 320 and server 313 can be included in a single machine,or collection of machines that are co-located or connected in adistributed fashion. In yet further embodiments, traffic and billingsystem 320 can include local instances or subsystems associated with oneor more media stations, and a backend subsystem used to providecentralized control or services to each of the local instances orsubsystems.

In various embodiments, spot block information 319 can include requestsfor identification of potential spots available for inclusion in anunder-filled spot block, responses to such requests, bumped spotnotifications, broadcast logs and lists, spot files, parameters relatedto available, unavailable, and potential spots, spot block parameters,ranks, conditional information, various status information related tospots, and the like.

Also, traffic and billing system 320 may be connected to theadvertisement system 322. The advertisement system 322 can, in variousembodiments, operate to provide network inventory directly to mediaautomation system 310 for broadcast in accordance with a broadcast logspecifying inventory allocations 323 generated by the traffic andbilling system 320. Traffic and billing system 320 can provide thebroadcast log to server 313 of media automation system 310. In someembodiments, the broadcast log can include entries that specify spotsreserved for playout of local inventory by media automation system 310,and placeholder, or network, entries specifying particular portions ofspot blocks reserved for playout of network inventory by advertisementsystem 322.

The media automation system 310 can play out media content for broadcastin accordance with the broadcast log using, for example, over-the-airmedia server 312 or streaming media server 311. Some, or all, of thecontent broadcast using over-the-air media server 312 and streamingmedia server 311 can include primary and/or advertising contentdelivered by server 313. In at least some embodiments, content deliveredby server 313 includes separate information to be embedded in abroadcast at or near the time of broadcast by over-the-air media server312, streaming media server 311, over-the-air broadcast system 350, orstreaming broadcast system 360. In other embodiments, the contentdelivered by server 313 can include pre-embedded information. In atleast some embodiments, broadcast servers such as over-the-air mediaserver 312 and streaming media server 311, or broadcast systems such asor over-the-air broadcast system 350 and streaming broadcast system 360can create and embed their own content.

Information can be embedded in a broadcast signal using varioustechniques, including, using a Radio Data System (RDS) protocol, usingin-band-on-channel (IBOC) techniques such as those used in HD Radio™transmissions, including a non-user-perceptible watermark in thebroadcast, or using various other signal encoding techniques.

In some implementations, network advertisement system 322 canpre-deliver customized advertisements to consumer media system 391, e.g.via streaming audio server 311, for later insertion locally into thecorresponding streaming station, rather than inserting the customizedadvertisements into streaming station content 363. Advertisement system322 can also deliver customized advertisements directly to consumermedia system 391 via Internet 361 or mobile carrier network 381 (notspecifically illustrated). In those cases, advertisement system 322 cansimply report to traffic and billing system 320, server 313,over-the-air audio server 312, streaming audio server 311, or somecombination thereof, various information associated with advertisementsdelivered directly to consumer media system 391.

Advertisement system 322 can select custom advertisements to be insertedin streaming station content 363, or to be delivered to consumer mediasystem 391 for later insertion based on profile, demographic,registration, history of usage, or other information collected usingconsumer media system 391, or obtained from a user or passenger profileassociated with the web service 393. It will be appreciated that variousadvertisement insertion techniques can be used in conjunction with thedistributed synchronization techniques and devices discussed herein.

Various system configurations can be used to implement the teachings setforth herein, and are not limited to the exact configurations discussedwith reference to FIG. 3. For example, although at least one embodimentincludes separate traffic and billing systems, similar functionality canbe provided using a single, integrated or system having one or morelocal or distributed processing, storage and communication elements.Thus, although embodiments including separate automation and trafficsystems are primarily discussed herein, other embodiments can beimplemented without the need for cooperation between separate automationand traffic systems.

Referring next to FIG. 4, a de-centralized media playout system 400including multiple dispersed locations will be discussed in accordancewith various embodiments of the present disclosure. De-centralized mediaplayout system 400 includes processing devices operating at multipledispersed locations connected via wide area communications network (WAN)402. The dispersed locations can be connected to various broadcast,streaming, and/or content insertion systems. To simplify thenomenclature used herein, unless otherwise required by the context,reference to a particular dispersed location should be understood toinclude a reference to devices present at that particular dispersedlocation.

The multiple dispersed locations illustrated in FIG. 4 include dispersedlocation (A) 410, dispersed location (B) 420, dispersed location (C)430, and dispersed location (D) 440. Dispersed location (A) 410 includesstorage device 415, which can be used to store a pre-distributed commonsequence of media items such as media items included in a broadcastschedule; local sources 417, which can include various local visual andaudio capture devices, microphones, cameras, or other systems used toplayout various visual or audio snippets, background items, sounds, orthe like; network interface 414, which can include various wired orwireless communication interfaces to local and our wide area networks;processing device(s) 413, which in turn includes mixer 416 and edgedevice 418; and optionally jitter buffer 412, which can be used toassist in performing distributed synchronization of content and controlinformation received from another dispersed location when dispersedlocation (A) 410 is not acting as a master.

Mixer 416 can include any of various mixing devices, surfaces,applications, and various combination thereof that can be used tocombine multiple different media items into a single media items, or toinsert, organize, and modify the common sequence of media items toinclude local program content in accordance with various controlsignals.

Dispersed location (B) 420 includes storage device 425, which can beused to store the same pre-distributed common sequence of media itemsstored at dispersed location (A) 410; network interface 424, which caninclude various wired or wireless communication interfaces to local andour wide area networks; jitter buffer 422, which can be used fordistributed synchronization of content and control information receivedfrom another dispersed location; processing device(s) 423, which in turnincludes mixer 426 and edge device 428; and optionally local sources427, which can include various local visual and audio capture devices,microphones, cameras, and/or other systems. Dispersed location (B) 420transmits final program (B) 496 to streaming system 460,

Dispersed location (C) 430 includes storage device 435, which can beused to store the same pre-distributed common sequence of media itemsstored at dispersed location (A) 410; network interface 434, which caninclude various wired or wireless communication interfaces to local andour wide area networks; jitter buffer 432, which can be used fordistributed synchronization of content and control information receivedfrom another dispersed location; processing device(s) 433, which in turnincludes mixer 436 and edge device 438; and optionally local sources437, which can include various local visual and audio capture devices,microphones, cameras, and/or other systems. Dispersed location (C) 430transmits final program (C) 492 to transmission system (C) 450, whichcan include content distribution systems, over-the-air broadcastsystems, streaming broadcast systems, web services, or the like.

Dispersed location (D) 440 includes storage device 445, which can beused to store the same pre-distributed common sequence of media itemsstored at dispersed location (A) 410; network interface 444, which caninclude various wired or wireless communication interfaces to local andour wide area networks; jitter buffer 442, which can be used fordistributed synchronization of content and control information receivedfrom another dispersed location; processing device(s) 443, which in turnincludes mixer 446 and edge device 448; and optionally local sources447, which can include various local visual and audio capture devices,microphones, cameras, and/or other systems. Dispersed location (D) 440transmits final program (D) 494 to transmission system (D) 470, whichcan include content distribution systems, over-the-air broadcastsystems, streaming broadcast systems, web services, or the like.

Jitter buffers 412, 422, 432, and 442 can be implemented as data areaswhere messages including local program components and control signalscan be collected, stored, and sent to mixer 416 at an appropriate time.Variations in arrival times between local program components and controlsignals, referred to herein as jitter, can occur because of networkcongestion, timing drift, or route changes. Jitter buffers 412, 422,432, and 442 can intentionally delay transmitting either local programcomponents or control signals to mixers 416, 426, 436, or 446 so thatthe relative timing between the local program components and controlsignal, as that timing relationship existed at the master dispersedlocation, is restored at each of the other dispersed locations. Jitterbuffers 412, 422, 432, and 442 can be implemented as either static ordynamic jitter buffers. In at least one embodiment, dynamic jitterbuffers are used to allow each dispersed location to automatically adaptto changes caused by varying network conditions.

Ad insertion system 462 is illustrated at part of de-centralized mediaplayout system 400, but may be a third-party system that is separatefrom de-centralized media playout system 400 in some embodiments. Adinsertion system 462 can be used to select and insert customadvertisements 498 into final program (B) 496 prior to final program 496being received by streaming system 460. Note that the term “finalprogram” is used herein to refer to completion of the mixing process ata distributed location, and unless specifically stated to the contrary,does not necessarily preclude downstream alteration of the “finalprogram.” For example, in some embodiments, a “final program” can bealtered after the mixing process is completed by inserting new mediaitems in empty schedule positions, inserting advertisements intoscheduled advertisement spots, inserting customized content into the“final program,” and the like.

In various embodiments any of the dispersed locations can be selected asa “master” location to provide separate control signals and localprogram components to the other dispersed locations. For example, in anembodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, dispersed location (A) 410, isdesignated as the master location, but in other embodiments anotherlocation can designated as the master location. Designation as a masterlocation can be based on manual or automated pre-configuration,negotiation among the various dispersed sites, determination by one ormore dispersed sites that the sufficient bandwidth is available,determination that connectivity to one or more other dispersedsites/locations has been lost or restored, or the like. For example, anon-master dispersed location can assume status as the master ifcommunications with the current master location is lost or degradedbeyond a predetermined quality threshold. In other embodiments, ifmultiple dispersed locations determine that communications with acurrent master location have been lost or degraded, the remainingdispersed locations can take over the duties of the master location in apredefined order. In yet other embodiments each dispersed location cansimply operate independently, if a communications channel with thecurrent master location is lost or degraded.

The following discussion assumes that dispersed location (A) 410, isdesignated as the master location. In at least one such embodiment,dispersed location (A) 410 is a broadcast studio controlled, at leastpartially, by live talent such as a talk show host or a disc jockey.Dispersed location (B) 420 is a cloud service, and dispersed location(C) 430 and dispersed location (D) 440 are broadcast transmission sites.

In one implementation, as illustrated by broken lines, dispersedlocation (A) 410 separately transmits content and control information(1) 482 to each of dispersed location (B) 420, dispersed location (C)430, and dispersed location (D) 440 via WAN 402. Each of the dispersedlocations will distributedly synchronize the separately transmittedcontent and control information, and use that synchronized information,in conjunction with a previously distributed sequence of media items, togenerate final program content that incorporates local programcomponents transmitted by dispersed location (A) 410 in accordance withcontrol signals/messages also transmitted by dispersed location (A) 410.

In another implementation, as illustrated by solid lines, dispersedlocation (A) 410 separately transmits content and control information(2) 484 to a single dispersed location, such as dispersed location (B)420, which can act as an intermediary between dispersed location (A) 410and the other dispersed locations. In various embodiments, dispersedlocation (B) 420 can be implemented as a cloud service. Dispersedlocation (B) 420 can synchronize content and control messages (2) 484before generating and transmitting content and control messages (3) 486to the other dispersed locations. In other embodiments (not explicitlyillustrated), dispersed location (B) 420 can forward content and controlmessages (2) 484 to the other dispersed locations rather than generatingnew content and control messages.

In various embodiments, content and control messages (2) 484 and contentand control messages (3) 486, each include separately transmitted localprogram components obtained from dispersed location (A) 410. Note thateven if dispersed location (B) 420 synchronizes the local programcomponents and the control messages, the separately transmitted localprogram components and control messages from dispersed location (B) 420may still arrive at the other dispersed locations out of synchronizationwith each other due to network factors or otherwise. Thus, distributedsynchronization can still be performed by dispersed location (C) 430 anddispersed location (D) 440 in at least some embodiments.

Synchronization of the separately transmitted local program componentsand control messages can be performed using various signal processingtechniques, such as using a training field, or other portion of a headeror message, to align messages including the local program components andthe control message, using time stamps included in messages to determinea relative timing relationship, using jitter buffers, or somecombination thereof. The local program components and control messagescan also be indirectly synchronized to each other by includinginformation indicating relative timing to a scheduled broadcast of oneor more particular media items. For example, if a level adjustmentcontrol signal is received 3 seconds after a start control signal isreceived, the message including the level adjustment control signal caninclude a +3 seconds relative time reference relative to the previouscontrol signal.

Referring next to FIG. 5 a method 500 of distributedly synchronizingmedia content and control signals will be discussed in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated by block501, a common sequence of media items is pre-distributed to multipledispersed locations. The common sequence of media items can include abroadcast schedule indicating particular media items, and an order inwhich they are to be broadcast. The common sequence of media items canalso include a schedule indicating nominal times at which the sequenceis to be started and stopped, and can actually include a full or partialprogram log with spot blocks to be filled in locally, and otherinformation needed for a complete broadcast. In some instances, thecommon sequence of media item can be distributed at the same time as amedia transmission schedule, while in others the common sequence ofmedia items can be fetched by processing devices at each of the multipledispersed locations.

The distribution can be provided via physical media that is copied tostorage at each dispersed location, via an individual or bulk networkfile transfer, or in some cases can made using a storage device thatneed only be installed into an appropriate hardware slot at eachdispersed location. The result of pre-distributing the common sequenceof media items is that each of the media items included in that sequenceis made locally available to a mixer at the dispersed location inadvance of the media item being needed.

In some implementations, a master location can pre-distribute the commonsequence of media items weeks, days, hours, or even minutes before themedia items will be needed for a broadcast. In other embodiments, thecommon sequence of media items is provided to each of the distributedlocations from a central repository as part of a regularly scheduleddownload of media items. The common sequence of media items may bedelivered individually, or in some sequence other than the commonsequence, and then ordered at each location based on a broadcastschedule. In other embodiments, the common sequence of media items isnot stored in the common sequence, but can be retrieved in the commonsequence.

For example, a media library can be stored at each of the distributedlocations, and a media transmission/broadcast schedule specifying thecommon sequence in which the media items are to be played. Upon receiptof the schedule, each distributed location can to determine if all themedia items in the common sequence are available in local storage. Ifnot, any missing media items can be requested and stored locally, inanticipation of being broadcast. The common sequence of media items ifreferred to as a “common sequence,” because each of the media itemsincluded in the common sequence can be obtained locally at eachdistributed location.

As illustrated by block 503, a processing device at first location 520obtains a local program component. The first location 520 can be, forexample, a recording studio with one or more microphones and videocapture devices, and the local program component can be a voice over, avideo or still image, part or all of a recorded interview, a talk show,or the like. In some cases. the local program component can be aprerecorded media item to be mixed into the common sequence of mediaitems for broadcast. In other embodiments, the local program componentis captured in real-time. In at least one embodiment the local programcomponent is captured and delivered to a mixer implemented on aprocessing device at the first location 520.

As illustrated by block 505, a control signal is captured at the firstlocation. This control signal can be related to playout of the commonsequence of media items. For example, a control signal can include acommand to “start” playing out the next media item in the commonsequence of media items. Additional control signals can indicate a startvolume of both the media item in the sequence and the local programcomponent, a fade parameter, or the like. Control signals can betransmitted in messages including a time stamp and a code indicating anaction corresponding to the time stamp, in some embodiments.

As illustrated by block 507, one or more devices at the first location520 separately transmit the local program content and the controlsignals to another dispersed location, in this example second location540. In some embodiments, a single device can transmit both the localprogram component and the control signals, while in other embodimentsdifferent devices initiate transmission of the local program content andthe control signals. For example, a mixer can begin transmitting amessage or stream including the local program component as the mixerreceives the local program component. Similarly, the mixer can begintransmitting a control signal in response to receiving the controlsignal from a local edge device. In other embodiments, however, a localedge device can transmit control signals, while a local mixer cantransmit the local program component. The local program component andthe control signals can be transmitted via different network paths, butin the same network, or even over different networks.

As illustrated by block 509, one or more devices at second location 540cooperate to generate a synchronized media program control bysynchronizing the separate control signal and local program componentreceived from first location 520. Synchronizing restores the originaltiming relationship between the control signal and the local programcomponent. By performing the synchronization independently at eachdistributed location, variances in transmission conditions acrossdifferent network paths can be accounted for. Note that if a controlsignal referencing a local program component is received at secondlocation 540, but the referenced local program component is notreceived, second location 540 can simply ignore the received controlsignal and proceed to transmit the common sequence of media itemswithout alteration.

As illustrated by block 511, the second location obtains at least partof the common sequence of media items from local storage. Note that thecommon sequence of media items stored locally at the second locationincludes items that have not been altered using the local programcomponent and the media program controls transmitted by first location520. As illustrated by block 513, second location 540 mixes at leastpart of the common sequence of media items with the local programcomponent, using the synchronized media program control.

In an overall example of operation, first location 520 transmits a localprogram component from a studio mixer to another mixer at secondlocation 540, and separately transmits a control signal from a studioedge device to another edge device at second location 540. Secondlocation 540 distributedly synchronizes the control signal to the localprogram component, thereby generating a synchronized media control. Thesecond location 540 retrieves at least one of the media items includedin the common sequence of media items from local storage, and mixes thelocal program component into the common sequence of media items usingthe synchronized media control. In at least one embodiment, thisprocedure allows the modified common sequence of media items beingbroadcast or streamed from second location 540 to replicate amodification made to a media item included in the common sequence ofmedia items at first location 520, without requiring transmission of thealready-modified media item from the first location 520 to the secondlocation 540.

Referring next to FIG. 6, a method 600 of providing a local programcomponent and associated control signals to be distributedlysynchronized by remote locations will be discussed in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 600 can beperformed at a broadcast studio, a recording studio, or at anotherdistributed location designated as a “master,” location for purposes ofgenerating and transmitting local program components and controlsignals.

As illustrated by block 603, a studio mixer determines whether a commandhas been locally issued, e.g. by a studio edge device, to locallypresent a pre-distributed sequence of media items. For example, localtalent controlling a studio mixer can activate a physical or software“button” or other control to begin playout of a media item included in alocally stored sequence of media items, which has also been distributedto other dispersed locations for which the studio location is acting asa “master.” The control activation can be received from a deviceproviding input directly to the mixer, or from a device connectedindirectly to the mixer. In some implementations, a start playout orother command can be an automated command issued by a studio edge deviceaccording to a broadcast schedule, and need not be a manual “start”command.

As illustrated by block 605, the mixer can begin to playout the mediaitem included in the sequence of media items locally. For example, localtalent can hear what is being played out through headsets or speakers,or in the case of a visual media broadcast the media being played outcan be viewed locally on a computer monitor, television, or otherdisplay.

As illustrated by block 607, a check can be made to determine if a localprogram component is to be added to sequence of media items being playedout. If the check at block 607 indicates that there is not a command tomix a local program component into the sequence of media items, method600 proceeds to block 617. If a local program component is to be mixedwith the sequence of media items, the command to mix the local programcomponent can be transmitted to one or more distributed locations, asillustrated by block 609, and the local program component can beobtained at block 611. As illustrated by blocks 613 and 615, onceobtained, the local program component is obtained it can be transmittedto the distributed locations and locally mixed into the media contentbeing played out locally, for observation by the local talent.

As illustrated by block 617, a check is made to see if a command hasbeen received to adjust a level of either a local program component or amedia item included in the sequence of media items. If not, method 600ends. However, as illustrated by blocks 619 and 621, if a command hasbeen received to adjust a level of either a local program component or amedia item included in the sequence of media items, that command istransmitted to the distributed locations, and is also used locally.

In an illustration of operation, assume a morning radio personality iscontrolling operation of a studio. He puts on headsets to listen to whatis being broadcast, and hears a song playing. Noting that the song isalmost ending, and it is close to time for him to start his morningshow, the radio personality activates a software button on his controlsoftware that issues a command for a “morning show” intro to fade inover the almost-finished song. The command to fade-in includes a volumelevel command that concurrently adjusts the volume of both a localprogram component and the volume level of an already started media item.The command to fade-in the morning show intro is transmitted to multipleremotely distributed locations.

Activating the software button also results in the mixer fetching acustomized morning show intro from a thumb drive or other local storagedevice. After retrieving the morning show intro, it is transmitted tomultiple remote locations, and is also sent to a studio mixer. Thestudio mixer mixes the morning show intro into the media item beingplayed so that the morning show personality can hear the mixed item. Themorning show intro transmitted to the other distributed locations willbe synchronized, at each remote location, to the command, which was alsotransmitted to those locations. The remote locations will synchronizethe command and the local program component, and mix the local programinto a locally stored version of the same media item being played, togenerate a broadcast or stream that replicates what was being locallyplayed out at the studio.

It should be noted that method 600 need not involve live transmission oflocal program content, but can, in some embodiments, also be performedin advance of a scheduled playout of a common sequence of media items.For example, if a 5 or 10 second delay is desired to provide a host withthe ability to screen callers, distributed synchronization of localprogram components and control signals can still provide the benefit ofnot requiring mixed media items to be transferred from one location toanother. Instead, only a small amount of data, e.g. the control signalsand the local program content, need to be transmitted, because the localprogram content can be synchronized and mixed with the sequence of mediaitems at the broadcast end of the chain, rather than at the originatingend of the chain.

Referring next to FIG. 7, a method 700 of distributedly synchronizingmedia for broadcast or streaming at a location remote from a sourcelocation will be discussed in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In at least one embodiment, method 700 can beperformed by processing devices located at a transmission site thatbroadcasts and/or streams media programs to consumers. Although thefollowing examples use the term “transmission site,” the invention(s)described are not limited to implementation at transmission sites.Furthermore, the term “transmission site” does not require the localpresence of a physical broadcast tower or the like. Instead, the term“transmission site” is used herein to refer to an edge location thattransmits a final program, such as final program (B) 496, final program(C) 492, or final program (D) 494 shown in FIG. 4 to a broadcast chain,a streaming chain, a content distribution system, or the like.

As illustrated by block 703 and 705, a pre-distributed sequence of mediaitems is received and locally stored at a transmission site. The samepre-distributed sequence of media items, referred to as a commonpre-distributed sequence of media items, is also pre-distributed toother distributed locations, including other transmission sites, cloudsites, and a source location, such as a studio site.

As illustrated by block 707, the transmission site plays out thepre-distributed sequence of media items for broadcast, streaming, orother transmission. In some embodiments, playout of the pre-distributedsequence of media items can begin prior to receiving any messages from astudio site or other source site that include control signals or localprogram components, for example in response to automatically generatedplayout commands associated with a broadcast log. In other embodiments,playout of the pre-distributed sequence of media items, can begin inresponse to a playout control signal or command received from anotherdistributed location. In yet further embodiments, control signals andlocal program components can be received before playout of thepre-distributed sequence of media items begins.

As illustrated by block 709, the transmission site determines whether ithas received a local program component to be inserted or mixed into thecommon pre-distributed sequence of media items. The local programcomponent is, in various embodiments, received from another distributedlocation acting as a “master” location, such as a studio site, anothertransmission site, or a cloud site. If not, the method ends, and playoutof the pre-distributed sequence of media items continues as scheduled.

If a local program component has been received, a check is made at block711 to determine whether a control signal related to playout of thepre-distributed sequence of media items has been received at thetransmission site. In various embodiments, the control signal isreceived from the same source as the local program component, but in aseparate message or transmission. In at least one embodiment, a controlsignal can provide information and control related to mixing the localprogram component with the pre-distributed sequence of media items, suchas various level information, timing information from which a timingrelationship between the control signal and the local program componentcan be determined, or the like. If no control signal has been received,method 700 ends.

As illustrated by block 713, if both a local program component and acontrol signal have been received, the control signal and the localprogram component can be synchronized to each other, and in someimplementations to a schedule associated with the pre-distributedsequence of media items.

As illustrated by block 715, a check is made to determine whether alevel adjustment to either the local program component or to thepre-distributed sequence of media items is to be made. For example, ifthe control signal(s) indicates that the local program component is avoice-over to be inserted at the beginning of a particular media itemincluded in the pre-determined sequence of media items, the controlsignal(s) can include information about level adjustments. The leveladjustment information can include information specifying absolute orrelative volume levels, relative volume level adjustment amounts, timingof volume adjustments, or the like. For visual media the controlsignal(s) can indicate appropriate level information, such asbrightness, transparency, color saturation, image sharpness, apparentfocal point, or the like.

As illustrated by block 717 and 719, one or more media items included inthe pre-distributed sequence of media items can be retrieved from localstorage, and the levels of either or both the local program componentand the pre-distributed sequence of media items can be adjusted inaccordance with the control signal

As illustrated by block 721, the local program component can be mixedwith the pre-distributed sequence of media items at the transmissionsite, in accordance with the control signal(s).

In some implementations, the various steps of method 700 can be modifiedor rearranged without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, block 711 can be performed prior to block 709,so that if no control signal is received within a threshold amount oftime, the method ends without checking for a local program component. Inother embodiments, the local program component and any control signalsreceived can be checked for a source designation and matched to eachother based on that source designation, so that control signals andlocal program components from multiple dispersed locations can bereceived, synchronized, and inserted into the same pre-distributedsequence of media items. Other modifications can be made to the variousmethods disclosed herein, so long as those modifications are madeconsistent with the teachings set forth herein.

Referring next to FIG. 8, a method 800 of distributedly synchronizingmedia in a system including an intermediate distribution site will bediscussed in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In at least one embodiment, method 800 can be performed byprocessing devices located at a cloud site that acts as a streamingservice or broadcast source, while also providing an intermediatedistribution site that transmits control signals and local programcomponents to multiple dispersed locations on behalf of a sourcelocations. Although the term “cloud site” is used below for ease ofreference, the invention(s) described are not limited to cloudprocessing sites.

As illustrated by blocks 803 and 805, the cloud site receives and storesa common pre-distributed sequence of media items. As illustrated byblock 807, the cloud site retrieves one or more of the media itemsincluded in the pre-distributed sequence of media items from storage.

As illustrated by block 809, the cloud site can obtain customizedadvertisements from an advertisement service, and insert theadvertisements into the pre-distributed sequence of media items togenerate a stream-specific sequence of media items. Note that the commonpre-distributed sequence of media items remains unchanged. Asillustrated by block 811, in various embodiments the cloud site beginstransmission of the stream-specific sequence of media items to streamingclients via a content distribution network.

Note that in other embodiments, the cloud site does not receive andinsert the custom advertisements. Instead, the advertisements areinserted later, by a separate, custom advertisement insertion service ormodule. In some such embodiments, therefore, rather than transmitting astream-specific sequence of media items, the cloud site transmits thecommon pre-distributed sequence of media items, in the same mannerdiscussed with reference to other distributed sites.

As illustrated by block 813, the cloud site determines whether it hasreceived a local program component to be inserted or mixed into thecommon pre-distributed sequence of media items, which also results inthe local program component being mixed into the stream-specificsequence of media items. The local program component is, in at least oneembodiment, received from another distributed location that relies onthe cloud site to distribute the local program component and controlsignals to other dispersed locations. If no local program component isreceived, the method ends, and playout of the pre-distributed sequenceof media items, by extension the stream-specific sequence of mediaitems, continues as scheduled.

As illustrated by block 815, if a local program component has beenreceived, the local program component is transmitted to one or moreadditional distributed locations. In some embodiment transmitting thelocal program component to the other locations includes forwarding themessage including the local program component, for example by simplyreplacing a destination in the message header with the address(es) ofthe other locations to which the local program content is to be sent. Inother embodiments, the cloud location receives multiple local contentcomponents, determines which local content components are to bedistributed to particular dispersed locations, and creates new messagesincluding one or more local program components, and transmits thoselocal program components to particular dispersed locations. Because eachdispersed location distributedly synchronizes each of the local programcomponents to control signals, in various embodiments latency introducedby generating messages that include multiple local program componentscan be accounted for, or in some cases simply ignored.

A check is made at block 817 to determine whether a control signalrelated to playout of the pre-distributed sequence of media items hasbeen received at the transmission site. As with messages including localprogram components, the cloud site can forward, aggregate, or otherwisetransmit control signals to one or more dispersed locations, as shown byblock 819. If no control signal has been received, method 800 ends.

As illustrated by block 821, the cloud site synchronizes the controlsignal and the local program component to each other, and in someimplementations to the pre-distributed sequence of media items. Notethat in some embodiments the synchronization can be performed prior totransmitting the local program component and a corresponding controlsignal to other dispersed devices, thereby allowing an intermediatesynchronization prior to transmitting the local program component andthe control signal. In other embodiments, the synchronization isperformed for local use by the cloud site in mixing the local programcomponent with the pre-determined sequence of media items, and nosynchronization is performed on local program components or controlsignals sent to other dispersed locations.

As illustrated by block 823, a check is made to determine whether alevel adjustment to either the local program component or to thepre-distributed sequence of media items is indicated by the controlsignal. If no level adjustment is to be made, method 800 proceeds toblock 827. However, if a level adjustment is to be made, the appropriatelevel adjustment is performed at block 825, and the pre-distributedsequence of media items is mixed with the local program component inaccordance with the control signal(s), as illustrated by block 827.

As illustrated by block 829, the pre-distributed sequence of mediaitems, as mixed and modified at block 827, can be transmitted tostreaming clients. one or more media items included in thepre-distributed sequence of media items can be retrieved from localstorage, and mixed with the local program component

Referring now to FIG. 9, a high-level block diagram of a processingsystem is illustrated and discussed. Processing system 900 includes oneor more central processing units, such as CPU A 905 and CPU B 907, whichmay be conventional microprocessors interconnected with various otherunits via at least one system bus 910. CPU A 905 and CPU B 907 may beseparate cores of an individual, multi-core processor, or individualprocessors connected via a specialized bus 911. In some embodiments, CPUA 905 or CPU B 907 may be a specialized processor, such as a graphicsprocessor, other co-processor, or the like.

Processing system 900 includes random access memory (RAM) 920; read-onlymemory (ROM) 915, wherein the ROM 915 could also be erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM) or electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM); input/output (I/O) adapter 925,for connecting peripheral devices such as disk units 930, optical drive936, or tape drive 937 to system bus 910; a user interface adapter 940for connecting keyboard 945, mouse 950, speaker 955, microphone 960, orother user interface devices to system bus 910; communications adapter965 for connecting processing system 900 to an information network suchas the Internet or any of various local area networks, wide areanetworks, telephone networks, or the like; and display adapter 970 forconnecting system bus 910 to a display device such as monitor 975. Mouse950 has a series of buttons 980, 985 and may be used to control a cursorshown on monitor 975.

It will be understood that processing system 900 may include othersuitable data processing systems without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure. For example, processing system 900 may include bulkstorage and cache memories, which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provide an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding term and/orrelativity between items. Such an industry-accepted tolerance rangesfrom less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to, but isnot limited to, component values, integrated circuit process variations,temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermal noise. Suchrelativity between items ranges from a difference of a few percent tomagnitude differences. As may also be used herein, the term(s)“configured to”, “operably coupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling”includes direct coupling between items and/or indirect coupling betweenitems via an intervening item (e.g., an item includes, but is notlimited to, a component, an element, a circuit, and/or a module) where,for an example of indirect coupling, the intervening item does notmodify the information of a signal but may adjust its current level,voltage level, and/or power level. As may further be used herein,inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another elementby inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two items inthe same manner as “coupled to”. As may even further be used herein, theterm “configured to”, “operable to”, “coupled to”, or “operably coupledto” indicates that an item includes one or more of power connections,input(s), output(s), etc., to perform, when activated, one or more itscorresponding functions and may further include inferred coupling to oneor more other items. As may still further be used herein, the term“associated with”, includes direct and/or indirect coupling of separateitems and/or one item being embedded within another item.

As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably”, indicates that acomparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides a desiredrelationship. For example, when the desired relationship is that signal1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparison may beachieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that of signal 2or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module”, “processingcircuit”, “processor”, and/or “processing unit” may be a singleprocessing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such aprocessing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of thecircuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may be, or furtherinclude, memory and/or an integrated memory element, which may be asingle memory device, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embeddedcircuitry of another processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory,random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, staticmemory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any devicethat stores digital information. Note that if the processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more thanone processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located(e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via astate machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logiccircuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing the correspondingoperational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, thecircuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further, note that the memoryelement may store, and the processing module, module, processingcircuit, and/or processing unit execute, hard coded and/or operationalinstructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/orfunctions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memorydevice or memory element can be included in an article of manufacture.

One or more embodiments of an invention have been described above withthe aid of method steps illustrating the performance of specifiedfunctions and relationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence ofthese functional building blocks and method steps have been arbitrarilydefined herein for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries andsequences can be defined so long as the specified functions andrelationships are appropriately performed. Any such alternate boundariesor sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claims.Further, the boundaries of these functional building blocks have beenarbitrarily defined for convenience of description. Alternate boundariescould be defined so long as the certain significant functions areappropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also havebeen arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certain significantfunctionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram block boundaries andsequence could have been defined otherwise and still perform the certainsignificant functionality. Such alternate definitions of both functionalbuilding blocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus withinthe scope and spirit of the claimed invention. One of average skill inthe art will also recognize that the functional building blocks, andother illustrative blocks, modules and components herein, can beimplemented as illustrated or by discrete components, applicationspecific integrated circuits, processors executing appropriate softwareand the like or any combination thereof.

The one or more embodiments are used herein to illustrate one or moreaspects, one or more features, one or more concepts, and/or one or moreexamples of the invention. A physical embodiment of an apparatus, anarticle of manufacture, a machine, and/or of a process may include oneor more of the aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc. describedwith reference to one or more of the embodiments discussed herein.Further, from figure to figure, the embodiments may incorporate the sameor similarly named functions, steps, modules, etc. that may use the sameor different reference numbers and, as such, the functions, steps,modules, etc. may be the same or similar functions, steps, modules, etc.or different ones.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/orbetween elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein maybe analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-endedor differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as asingle-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path.Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it alsorepresents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particulararchitectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise beimplemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, directconnectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between otherelements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of one or more of theembodiments. A module includes a processing module, a processor, afunctional block, hardware, and/or memory that stores operationalinstructions for performing one or more functions as may be describedherein. Note that, if the module is implemented via hardware, thehardware may operate independently and/or in conjunction with softwareand/or firmware. As also used herein, a module may contain one or moresub-modules, each of which may be one or more modules.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of theone or more embodiments have been expressly described herein, othercombinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. Thepresent disclosure of an invention is not limited by the particularexamples disclosed herein and expressly incorporates these othercombinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: pre-distributing a commonsequence of media items to storage devices at a plurality of dispersedlocations; obtaining, at a first media mixer located at a firstdispersed location, a local program component, wherein the local programcomponent includes media content not included in the common sequence ofmedia items; obtaining a control signal at a first processing deviceco-located with the first media mixer at the first dispersed location,wherein the control signal is associated with playout of the commonsequence of media items; transmitting the local program component fromthe first media mixer located at the first dispersed location to asecond media mixer at a second dispersed location; separatelytransmitting the control signal from the first processing device,co-located with the first media mixer at the first dispersed location,to a second processing device, co-located with the second media mixerlocated at the second dispersed location; at the second dispersedlocation, synchronizing the control signal to the local programcomponent to generate a synchronized media program control; at thesecond media mixer located at the second dispersed location: obtainingat least a portion of the common sequence of media items; obtaining thelocal program component; obtaining the synchronized media programcontrol; and mixing the local program component and the at least aportion of the common sequence of media items in accordance with thesynchronized media program control.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein:obtaining the control signal includes monitoring user activation of aplayout control associated with a media item included in the commonsequence of media items; and in response to detection of a useractivation of the playout control, the method further including:transmitting the control signal to the first media mixer; andtransmitting the control signal to the second processing device,co-located with the second media mixer located at the second dispersedlocation.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: determining thata user has activated a playout control configured to begin playout ofthe media item included in the common sequence of media items; inresponse to determining that the user has activated the playout controlconfigured to begin playout: beginning local playout of the media itemat the first dispersed location; and transmitting a begin-playoutcontrol signal instructing the second media mixer at the seconddispersed location to begin playout of the media item.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: determining that a user has activated aplayout control configured to alter a volume level of the media itemincluded in the common sequence of media items; in response todetermining that a user has activated the playout control configured toalter a volume level of the media item: altering a local volume level ofthe media item; and transmitting a volume-level control signalinstructing the second media mixer at the second dispersed location toalter a playout volume level of the media item.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein synchronizing the control signal includes: using a jitterbuffer to synchronize the control signal to the local program component.6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second media mixer and the secondprocessing device are part of a cloud-based media delivery servicelocated at the second dispersed location, the method further including:transmitting the local program component from the second media mixerlocated at the second dispersed location to a third media mixer at atransmission site; and separately transmitting the control signal fromthe second processing device to a third processing device, co-locatedwith the third media mixer located at the transmission site.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: synchronizing the control signal to thelocal program component includes restoring an original relative timingbetween the control signal and the local program component, irrespectiveof any latency associated with the control signal.
 8. A systemcomprising: a plurality of storage devices located at a plurality ofdispersed locations, each of the plurality of storage devices storing acommon sequence of media items; at least a first processing devicelocated at a first dispersed location; at least a second processingdevice located at a second dispersed location; the at least a firstprocessing device located at a first dispersed location configured to:obtain a local program component including media content not included inthe common sequence of media items; obtain a control signal associatedwith playout of the common sequence of media items; transmit the localprogram component from the at least a first processing device to the atleast a second processing device located at the second dispersedlocation; separately transmit the control signal from the at least afirst processing device to the at least a second processing device; theat least a second processing device located at the second dispersedlocation configured to: synchronize the control signal to the localprogram component to generate a synchronized media program control;obtain at least part of the common sequence of media items from astorage device at the second dispersed location; obtain the localprogram component; obtain the synchronized media program control; andinsert the local program component into the at least a part of thecommon sequence of media items in accordance with the synchronized mediaprogram control.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein: obtaining thecontrol signal includes monitoring user activation of a playout controlassociated with a media item included in the common sequence of mediaitems; and the at least a first processing device, in response todetection of a user activation of the playout control, is furtherconfigured to: perform, at the first dispersed location, an actionassociated with the playout control; and transmit the control signal tothe at least a second processing device at the second dispersedlocation.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least a firstprocessing device is further configured to: determine that a user hasactivated a playout control configured to begin playout of the mediaitem included in the common sequence of media items; and the at least afirst processing device, in response to determining that the user hasactivated the playout control configured to begin playout, is furtherconfigured to: begin local playout of the media item at the firstdispersed location; and transmit a begin-playout control signalinstructing the at least a second processing device at the seconddispersed location to begin playout of the media item.
 11. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the at least a first processing device is furtherconfigured to: determine that a user has activated a playout controlconfigured to alter a volume level of the media item included in thecommon sequence of media items; the at least a first processing device,in response to determining that the user has activated the playoutcontrol configured to alter a volume level of the media item, is furtherconfigured to: alter a local volume level of the media item; andtransmit a volume-level control signal instructing the at least a secondprocessing device at the second dispersed location to alter a playoutvolume level of the media item.
 12. The system of claim 9, furtherincluding: a jitter buffer located at the second dispersed location, thejitter buffer configured to synchronize the control signal to the localprogram component.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least asecond processing device is part of a cloud-based media delivery servicelocated at the second dispersed location, the system further including:at least a third processing device located at a transmission site;wherein the at least a second processing device is further configuredto: transmit the local program component from the second dispersedlocation to the transmission site; and separately transmit the controlsignal from the second dispersed location to the transmission site. 14.A media system comprising: one or more processing devices located at afirst dispersed location, each of the one or more processing devicesincluding a processor, associated memory, and a network interfacecoupled to a communications network; the one or more processing devicesconfigured to implement a first media mixer and a first edge playoutdevice; a first storage device, co-located with the one or moreprocessing devices located at the first dispersed location, the firststorage device configured to store a sequence of media itemspre-distributed to a plurality of second storage devices located at aplurality of second dispersed locations; the one or more processingdevices configured to implement a first mixer and a first edge playoutdevice, wherein; the first mixer is configured to: obtain a localprogram component from an input device co-located with the one or moreprocessing devices at the first dispersed location; obtain, from thefirst storage device, a media item included in the sequence of mediaitems; obtain a receive a control signal from the first edge playoutdevice; mix the local program component and the media item included inthe sequence of media items in accordance with the control signal; andtransmit the local program component, but not the media item included inthe sequence of media items, to second mixers located at the pluralityof second dispersed locations; the first edge playout device isconfigured to detect activation of a media playout control associatedwith playout of the media item included in the sequence of media items,and in response to detecting activation of the media playout control:transmit the control signal to the first media mixer; and transmit thecontrol signal to second edge playout devices located at the pluralityof second dispersed locations, wherein the control signal issynchronized to the local program component at the plurality of seconddispersed locations.
 15. The media system of claim 14, wherein the firstedge playout device is further configured to: detect activation of amedia playout control configured to alter a volume level of the mediaitem included in the sequence of media items; in response to determiningthat a user has activated the media playout control configured to altera volume level of the media item: altering a local volume level of themedia item; and transmitting a volume-level control signal instructingthe second mixers at the second dispersed locations to alter a playoutvolume level of the media item.
 16. The media system of claim 14,further comprising: jitter buffers located at the plurality of seconddispersed locations, the jitter buffers each configured to synchronizethe control signal to the local program component at each of theplurality of second dispersed locations.
 17. The media system of claim16, wherein the jitter buffers are further configured to: restore anoriginal relative timing between the control signal and the localprogram component, irrespective of any latency associated with thecontrol signal.
 18. The media system of claim 14, further comprising: atleast one or more additional processing devices configured to implementa cloud-based media delivery service, wherein: the first mixer isconfigured to transmit the local program component to the second mixersvia the cloud-based media delivery service; and the first edge playoutdevice is configured to transmit the control signal to the second edgeplayout devices via the cloud-based media delivery service.
 19. Themedia system of claim 14, further comprising: the second mixers and thesecond edge playout devices, and wherein: each of the second mixers isdispersed from other second mixers, and is co-located with one of thesecond edge playout devices; and the second mixers are configured to mixthe local program component and the media item included in the sequenceof media items in accordance with the control signal, subsequent tosynchronization of the control signal to the local program component.20. The media system of claim 14, wherein: the second mixers areconfigured to generate a final program mix to be broadcast based on thecontrol signal, the local program component, and the sequence of mediaitems that was previously distributed; and in response to a loss ofcommunication with the one or more processing devices located at thefirst dispersed location, the second mixers are configured to generate afinal program mix based on the sequence of media items that waspreviously distributed.